by Johanna Wegner Scholars Academy students with an appreciation for our earth are taking action by helping the environment and fellow human beings in their creation of E.A.R.T.H. Club. Seniors Malyce Collins and Cherie Pace, with the help of Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher Jonathan Ariail, are the two students who felt that the school and community were in need of such type of club. “I felt that maybe starting a club would be able to raise awareness that the environment and other people need help,” said Collins.E.A.R.T.H. stands for Environmental Awareness and Relief Touching Humanity. The E.A.R.T.H. Club is planning ways to put their ideas into practice with involvement in projects that are environmentally focused and one focused on more humanitarian issues. For now, their main focus is a project called “Operation Christmas Child.” Members of E.A.R.T.H Club and Rotary Interact Club have partnered with each other to bring, fill and wrap boxes with toys for children in Africa, who don't have the privilege to get Christmas presents. To raise money for the shipping, the E.A.R.T.H Club members will host a bake sale. Another project is called “Hands and Hearts for Horses.” This is a therapeutic riding program aimed at helping people with mental and physical disabilities through horseback riding. E.A.R.T.H Club has decided to volunteer there. On October 29, they attended a training session, where they learned how to properly lead horses, help the riders get on and off the horse, as well as how to stabilize the rider. In addition to participating in existing charitable organizations, the E.A.R.T.H. Club will initiate some of their own projects to advance their cause. They are planning on doing one special activity each day of the week of Earth Day in April dedicated to helping the environment. At the end of the week, the club would like to host an entire fair to highlight Earth Day. To help the environment, the club is planning also to plant at least one tree Thomasville City Schools campuses, but they are still searching for a fundraiser in order to purchase the trees. Pace stated that the major goal of the E.A.R.T.H. Club is to look beyond the present and to see how actions today affect everyone on Earth in the future. “So by participating in these projects and helping out, we are raising that awareness and creating a legacy that will continue hopefully after we are gone,” said Cherie Pace. Collins and Pace also learned that creating a club, getting people together, and planning things to do is not easy. “This is a lot of work, but it is worth it,” said Collins. To participate in the E.A.R.T.H. Club it is important to have dedication to people and to the environment and to be motivated to help.Collins added, “It is important to not just do things for getting a reward for it, but doing it to be able to help people and make a difference in the lives of others.” Students interested in participating in the E.A.R.T.H. Club should go to an E.A.R.T.H. Club meeting on Thursdays after school in Ariail’s classroom.